DOHERTY REPORT:SENIOR MEMBERS of the Health Service Executive (HSE) management expressed concern over whether to place the consultant radiologist at the centre of the controversy over breast cancer misdiagnoses in Portlaoise on administrative leave, it emerged yesterday.
A report into the circumstances that led to the controversy shows that three senior HSE management figures met to discuss what action to take with the consultant following the suspension of breast radiology services at the midlands hospital.
The HSE officials - the national director at the HSE's National Hospitals Office, the network manager and the assistant national director of quality, risk and customer - all expressed reservations about whether it was warranted to place the consultant radiologist on administrative leave.
However, the following day the national director - the senior decision maker - made a judgment call to place the radiologist on administrative leave in the interests of patient safety.
This consultant, Dr Visa Moodley, has since been invited back to work at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
These details are contained in a report by Ann Doherty, acting national of corporate planning at the HSE. The report was commissioned by the Minister for Health shortly after the controversy came to light.
The report, which refers to individuals by job title rather than name, shows that the decision to suspend breast radiology services at Portlaoise was made two months after detailed concerns were raised that patients were at risk of being misdiagnosed.
In late June of last year, a clinical nurse specialist expressed concern to the director of nursing over the length of time patients had to wait for a diagnosis.
In some cases, the specialist said, patients were waiting between four and eight months for an outcome. She also observed differences between diagnoses locally in Portlaoise and at St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, where cases were referred for a second opinion.
After the completion of two "incident/near-miss" reports, the issue was brought to the attention of the network manager, which resulted in a major meeting on August 28th of last year.
At this meeting attended by seven senior HSE managers, the breast radiology services were suspended by the network managers. A clinical review into breast radiology services was also organised at the same meeting.
The clinical review was subsequently carried out by BreastCheck director Dr Ann O'Doherty, whose report was also published yesterday.
